NOTICE: Since this is on personal experiences alone there will be no cited sources. References will be hyperlinked. The sequel to my previous ramble about how VGA could be part neglect and no this time around it will probably not make sense reading every other sentence so don’t try it.

Video games are a form of escape from our lives and sometimes it works better than others. When I play video games I am no longer Derek Li. If I am playing single player then I am Snake or Subject Delta. Some of these characters have personalities like Snake for instance a veteran soldier with an expertise with stealth. Others are blank slates that I can convey my own thoughts and emotions on to, such as subject delta a protagonist with a vaguely defined past and met with questionable tasks with the outcome largely based off of my choices. These protagonists allow me to have a point of view in their world and a glimpse into their thoughts through events I would never encounter otherwise. A fresh new experience, an escape from reality, and the ability to feel important.

Multi-player is a completely different situation. I am not Derek Li but rather a username: Laitome. I treat complete strangers with total respect and in turn they return the respect in a way that could never happen in real life. They too respect me and trust me to pull my weight in team games or to become a force to be reckoned with in versus. They call me by my username, but they respect me and treat me with a kindness that is hard to find in the real world when everyone out there thinks you are crazy spending your time playing video games and not socializing. I get the ultimate sense of community there being able to talk freely and openly without the usual judgments, we all have something in common, and we all know the limits of our communication so we get along just fine. But if I suddenly disappear without warning they become curious and wondering where I have been if I suddenly come back. Video games mean a lot to those who play them and those who get addicted to them. They provide us with a sense of self-worth and community that is hard to find when you are depressed, just simply don’t know what to do with your life, or have been shunned from the real world by society and your peers.

While a feeling of self-worth and community is easy for those who are out going and social and don’t have mental issues, gaming while not in person do provide those values that keep us from going over the edge and give us a reason to keep on going. relevant last 10 mins

The thought occurred to me while looking for more VGA stories. Just hear me out, what are some symptoms of neglect. Lack of meals, lowered academic performances, and physical decline. What are key symptoms noticed in VGA victims. Skipping meals, lowered school grades, and a tendency to stay inside which leads to physical decline. Seem familiar to you, or do you skip every other sentence and completely missed what I said earlier. If you are the former disregard the next sentence. If you are the latter then keep reading that way this will still make sense. Another sign of neglect from the parents could be a sense a alienation between their child. While parents aren’t trying to get their kids attached to video games they certainly aren’t doing any good work to remove them. When this thought hit me, I didn’t think “How could I let that shameful thought enter my mind saying that parents aren’t helping their kids after such a harsh series of events.” My thought when this came to me was, “Holy S@#T, that actually makes sense of the pattern I see in every VGA story.” All the tragedy’s could have been avoided if the parents paid more attention to their children outside of thinking video games are solely a bad thing. Change the names and a change of template then every last “unforeseeable” and “sudden” VGA story reads exactly the same. Kid gets hooked on video games then dies. But these templates don’t include anything about the parents instead saying that they tried to remove video games. Disregarding the fact that they BOUGHT the video games they are largely pushed as victims. In fact it is because there is nothing to add about the parents to the story, all of them don’t play video games and thus don’t know of the affect it has on people or the role of video games. Hope you enjoyed my little ramble I will do another post on the role of video games to VGA afflicted people and how removal is NOT the best option eventually. See you next post. symptoms for neglect taken from lists below: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/tc/child-maltreatment-symptomshttp://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/child-neglect?tab=Symptoms

For my first article I decided to make any connections in between what I have experienced while being addicted and what an official site says it feels like to draw parallels. Of course the best way to draw parallels is to look at the symptoms. So from top to bottom here are my thoughts on each of the listed symptoms. Note some of the listed ones are similar so not all will be covered.

preoccupation- I can say they got this one on the money. Video games do occupy my thoughts when I am bored at school or anywhere for that matter.

Downplaying Computer Use/ Defensiveness- No. No. No. OK all sarcasm aside this is a 50-50 one sometimes I do this, other times I don’t. It really depends on how hard people push on the subject of Video Game addiction.

Lack of Control/ Loss of time- Yes almost certainly and very easily.

Negative Impact on life/emotions- If anything the opposite happened with me. I actually made friends through gaming and it works to calm me down.

Hiding from uncomfortable situations- This is what gaming is for, so why it is on this list is beyond me.

Misuse of Money- Can’t say anything because I had no money when I was addicted.

Mixed Feelings- what the website describes is something known as raging in the gaming community and appears in almost every gamer.

Old Man Warner snorted. “Pack of crazy fools,” he said “Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that way for a while.” While Shirley Jackson’s short story the lottery is definitely older than video games this statement almost perfectly sums up the view of parents on video games. With the statement “living in caves, nobody work any more,” being comparable to a child staying home rather than going outside and playing sports like a “normal” child. The “Crazy fools” in a parents eye is the video game industry giving their children their ear in market like “listening to the young folks” that buy their games. The statement “live that way for a while.” is comparable to how some children game for extended periods of time and that their parents worry from this.

Older than games? yes. But there is some truth as the statements stated above are highly applicable to VGA and the general view from parents who don’t know what happens if you “quit the lottery”.